From Rag to Heirloom

My son Johnny is named after his Grandpa, John, who sadly passed away from cancer without getting to meet either of his grandchildren. My husband wore this shirt of his dad’s for years, to the point where it was almost completely worn out. I noticed that parts of the shirt (front and back) were less worn, so I thought it would be fun to turn it into a pajama top for Johnny to wear. I like to find ways to make a connection between my kids and their grandpa, especially where they can’t meet him and enjoy his kindness and goofy sense of humor.

There wasn’t enough fabric in good shape for pajama bottoms – maybe I’ll find another shirt or a pair of old pants to use…

MATERIALS:

old shirt

thread

scissors

pattern or clothing to copy for a pattern

STEPS:

1) Cut out pieces. If you look closely, you’ll notice that I actually kept parts of the original shirt (lower hem and front buttons) intact. This means less sewing and makes it more like he is wearing his Grandpa’s actual shirt.

Here are the pieces. I used a raglan sleeve design. I need to learn to take pictures so the pieces don’t look so distorted…

3) Sew all edges with a zig-zag stitch to prevent fraying.

4) Sew together.

5) Enjoy :)

I made this one big – so he can grow into it (he has plenty of pajamas that fit right now) and so that I have some time to figure out what to make the pajama bottoms out of!